DESCRIPTION OF DUTIES

In the context of the current emergency, the incumbent will play a crucial role in supporting health systems strengthening efforts and the public health response by providing technical guidance and support in pharmaceutical supply. During deployment, the duty station may change, and duties may be modified based on the technical needs of the program requirements.

The incumbent will perform the following duties:

1. Act as a focal person within the WHO field presence in Gaziantep to manage medicines-related tasks through coordination with health authorities, donors, and health partners in Turkey and Northwest Syria.

2. Lead/Coordinate the technical working group and subgroup meetings with all relevant partners, producing and circulating minutes, related decisions, and tracking the latter, recommending improvements to current and future field operations based on lessons learned.

3. Provide technical assistance to health partners in developing essential drug lists for different types of healthcare in northern Syria.

4. Advise and support WHO local and international pharmaceutical procurement and delivery for cross-border operations in northern Syria.

5. Offer technical assistance to health partners for the development, implementation, and monitoring of medicines policy and action plans in line with WHO’s Medicines Strategy.

6. Establish mechanisms, in collaboration with health partners, for streamlining medicine supplies and their management, both for emergencies and routine health services.

7. Build the capacity of health partners to effectively manage pharmaceuticals in northern Syria, including the development and implementation of necessary regulations.

8. Initiate a program of training and capacity building in the areas of medicine supply management, quality control, storage, dispensing, prescription, and use of medicines in line with WHO treatment guidelines.

9. Initiate a system for reporting and detecting trends in antibiotic use in Northwest Syria, with a clear strategy to address the impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

10. Draft and revise technical documents, briefing notes, meeting reports, information products, and content as appropriate.

11. Proactively participate in the development of project proposals to mobilize resources.

12. Provide input to communications and information products (Situation Reports, health cluster bulletins, outbreak bulletins, etc.) as required.

13. Manage and supervise staff and consultants, including task assignment, performance evaluation, and professional development.

14. Coordinate team activities, ensuring effective collaboration and communication within the team.

15. Contribute to project cycle management, including planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of the WHO Gaziantep Field Presence health projects.

16. Perform any other incident-specific related duties as required by the functional supervisor.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

Education

Essential: First university degree in pharmacy and/or health-related field from an accredited/recognized institute.
Desirable: Post graduate degree in public health or in pharmaceutical related sciences.

Experience

Essential: At least 5 years of experience in pharmaceutical supplies management in emergency at the national level.
Desirable: Experience or knowledge of WHO mandate and goals in Health Action in Crises or experience in UN organizations/agencies.

Skills

• In-depth knowledge of public health programmes with focus on pharmaceutical supply chain management

• Demonstrated knowledge and experience of operational management of health aspects/consequences of humanitarian crises in field settings.

• Demonstrated skills in capacity building, proposal and report writing.

• Knowledge of and experience with needs assessments in emergency settings, strategic information analysis and planning.

• Managerial skills for the development, implementation and analysis of technical cooperation programmes and activities, including the development of programmatic indicators.

WHO Competencies

Teamwork
Respecting and promoting individual and cultural differences
Communication
Producing results
Knowing and managing yourself

Use of Language Skills

Essential: Expert knowledge of English.
Desirable: Intermediate knowledge of Turkish/Arabic.